Kazakhstan abstains from voting on UN General Assembly resolution against secession referendum in Crimea

Kazakhstan has abstained from voting on the UN General Assembly resolution against the secession referendum in Crimea, which was part of Ukraine but seceded from it and reunited with Russia last week, Tengrinews.kz reports, citing the UN General Assembly.

The official website quotes Kairat Abdrakhmanov, Kazakhstan’s permanent representative in the UN, as saying that his country was home to Kazakhs, Russians, Ukrainians, Tatars, Germans, Polish people, Koreans, and reps of other ethnic groups enjoying peace and accord. Kazakhstan’s Government is interested in a sovereign, stable and independent Ukraine, according to him; however, economic recovery is of paramount importance to settling the situation. “It’s important to listen to the voice of reason and consider all possible ways of settling the situation in a peaceful way”, he said.

The vote on the nonbinding resolution was 100-11, with 58 countries abstaining.

Armenia, Belarus, Bolivia, Venezuela, Cuba, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Zimbabwe, Nicaragua, Russia, Syria, and Sudan voted against the resolution.

The document urges countries not to recognize Crimea’s accession to Russia after the referendum held on March 16.

Unlike UN Security Council resolutions, those adopted by the UN General Assembly are not binding and are advisory in nature.